Africa in Motion (AiM) will enchant audiences with
screenings of more than two dozen African films from all
over the continent at
Filmhouse
Cinema this October. The
packed programme covers a variety of genres spanning six
decades of filmmaking in Africa. AiM is an exciting first
for Edinburgh. Never before have so many African films
been screened in one festival.

The inaugural AiM festival presents a "best of"
introduction to African cinema since African films
are consistently under-represented and marginalised in
distribution and exhibition world-wide. The extensive
programme includes some of the most significant
African classics, unearths a number of "lost classics",
as well as showcases contemporary groundbreaking
films.

AiM gives Scottish audiences unprecedented access to
artistic representations of the complexities and
diversities of African cultures through the eyes of Africa's
best directors.

Throughout the festival African musicians, poets and
artists will perform and exhibit their work in the
Filmhouse café. Books, art work and CDs will be on
display and for sale in the Filmhouse foyer.

Most screenings will be introduced by high-profile
theorists and critics of African film. The
festival also includes an excellent complementary
programme of free talks and discussions, offering
opportunities to the general public, school children
and students to engage in discussions on African
cinema. Topics include issues of film aesthetics and
themes relating to African cultures, histories and
traditions addressed in the films.

"Africa in Motion is, quite simply, one of the best
programmes of films ever to be shown in Scotland. At a
time when mainstream American cinema is
underperforming and undernourishing, and when so much
film programming seems stuck in a loop, repeating the
same "classics" over and over, Africa in Motion is a
brilliant and long overdue window onto a world of
auteurs, masterpieces, passionate polemics and
gorgeous vistas. Move over Scorsese -
Sembene, Ouedraogo and Mambety are the filmmakers who
are belatedly exciting us." Film critic and AiM advisor Mark Cousins, Sept 06